Health for the Millions, Vol. 7, Feb. 1981.pdf

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COMmumty health
326, V Mein, I Block

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A Kind of Conspiracy Korambngala

Ba^Jore“660°3* * z

The word conspire means “to breathe together.” The Aquarian Age is symbolic of a new
age, and a new, pervasive dream of love and light, the time of the mind’s liberation. The
Aquarian conspiracy is a Htany about an imminent personal and social transformation,
a leap in human history into an era of wider consciousness.

The Aquarian Conspiracy is an
expression of a belief that a wider
framework of thought and action
is necessary for a peaceful,
healthy and a totally different
kind of world. And Aquarian
conspirators believe that such a
framework is possible. Conspira­
tors have seen the futility of our
present social, political and eco­
nomic ways. More than that, they
are working and living the alter­
natives—alternatives
emerging
out of deep inner shifts in think­
ing of the Aquarian conspirator.
When these deep inner shifts
occur, doubts and growing fears
fall away, vanish into a bygone era
as it were. The individual’s life is
totally altered and revolutionised
thereafter. Most probably the
Aquarian conspirator has under­
gone aJeep shiftin human consci­
ousness. A totally different area
of perception has been opened.
Aquarian conspirators--the word
conspire means “to breathe toge­
ther" —are building small invisi­
ble networks throughout the
world, contacting fellow conspir­
ators and working for a personal
and collective transformation,
which anyway ought to be the
objective of all health institutions
and of people working in the field
of health.

whose strategies are pragmatic,
even scientific,but whose perspec­
tive sounds so mystical that they
hesitate to discuss it. Activists
asking different kinds of questions,
challenging the establishment
from within."
Broader than reform, deeper
than revolution, this benign
conspiracy for a new
human
agenda has triggered the most
rapid cultural alignment in history.
The great shuddering, irrevoc­
able shift overtaking us is not a
new political, religious, or philo­
sophical system. It is a new mind
—the ascendance of a startling
worldview that gathers into its
framework breakthrough science
and insights from earliest record­
ed thought.

Marilyn Ferguson,theauthorof
the book The Aquarian Conspiracy

published by J P Tarcher Inc.,
Los Angeles, 1980, shows how
the germs of this conspiracy has
already infected every aspect of
human activity on: in medicine, in
physical sciences, in education, in
economics, in politics and in psy­
chology. Many conspirators are
open in their advocacy of the
new transformation. Many others
are quiet. They believe that, they
can be more effective that way.
The funny thing about the Aqu­
arian Conspiracy is that conspir­
ators of whatever social status they
be are linked by their inner dis­
coveries. For they all believe that
you can break through old limits,
past inertia and fear, to levels of
fulfillment that once seemed
impossible. Aquarian conspirators
are more productive, confident,
and comfortable with insecurity.

Broader than Reform
“(...The Aquarian Conspiracy)
is a conspiracy without a political
doctrine. Without a manifesto.
With conspirators
who seek
power only to disperse it, and

A WARM CONSPIRACY IN A COLD PLACE

HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FEBRUARY 1981

Problems are experienced as
challenges, a chance for renewal,
rather than stress. It can all be
otherwise.

Paradigm Shift
Trust is the key to the earnes­
tness of transformation of the
Aquarian Conspirators. They are
not cynical of change and the
possibility of change. Least of
all, they are not cynical about
their own human potential. Trust
and lack of fear are the key words.
“We can learn to savor the scars
of our remorse," said Theodore
Roszak, “until finally we take our
whole identity from them." Our
conformity to old ideas, be they
in health or philosophy or politics
seem to be because of a fear of
ourselves.
The emergent culture or new
movement, call it what you will,
isthen“provolutionary---an ascent
of consciousness and paradigm
shifts." A paradigm shift, briefly,
is a total shift in our way of think­
ing and perceiving. This has
happened time and again in
human history. Characteristics of
the new paradigm shift in health
are illustrated in the box on the
next page.

______ V *------ -----V----

--------FEAR OF FLYING OR CONSPIRING?

ous amount of stress and crises
undergone by the human brain in
modern times can lead to either a
breakdown or a breakthrough into
higher consciousness —a brain of
greater complexity.
“More consciousness means
more awareness of the body. As
we become more sensitive to the
moment - to - moment, day-to-day
effects of stressful emotions on
the body, the subtle ways in which
illnesses expresses conflict, we
learn to deal with stress more
directly. We discover our ability

to go into the lap of freedom be­
yond grief and danger?
Conspirators throughout the
world have resorted to a number
of ways, which for a lack of better
name, we will call psychotechnolo­
gies (A list of some of these psy­
chotechnologies, is given in the
box on page 4). A psychotech­
nology is a way of achieving
wholeness of the person, of
integrating the right.brain and the
left brain.
Research on epileptic patients
who underwent“split-brain“ surg-

It started in the morning as I woke. In a dream before waking I heard a beat, a drum, a march from
the first Neanderthal shamans through the Vedic seers and all the patriarchs. There was a sense that
no one could stop it.
—Michael Murphy, Jacob Atabet

News from Science
Much of what is happening in
contemporary science—some of
the most exciting things in physics
and neurobiology for instance—
justify the beliefs of the Aquarian
conspirators: Mankind is poised
for a leap, for a transformation in
growth.
Ilya Prigogine's theory of dis­
sipative structures (Prigogine got
the Nobel prize for chemistry in
1977) indicates that the tremend-

2

to handle stress, even when it
escalates, by a different way of
responding."

Quest for Wholeness
An altered state of conscious­
ness is another way of expressing
our search for wholeness of the
body, mind and the spirit. Aquar­
ian conspirators aspire to look at
life and beyond, by tapping the
astonishing potentials of the mind
and the body.

How do we break these barriers

ery has confirmed the existence
of two hemispheres of the brain
which interact all the time but
each also has certain function of
its own. Thus the left brain con­
trols speech, is analytical, linear
and casual in thinking; whereas
the right brain is the source of
fantasy,
dreams,
instructions
and mystic vision. Cut off from
the right brain, the left brain can­
not see patterns and meaning in
things. The left brain becomes
(Contd. on page 4)

HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FEBRUARY 1981

Shifting F
The new paradigm 'of health
and medicine enlarge the frame­
work of the old, incorporating
brilliant technological advances
while restoring and validating
intuitions about mind are rela­
tionships. It explains many here­
tofore puzzling phenomena. Its
coherence and predictive powers
are superior to those of the old

model. It adds the fire and poetry
of inspired science to the prose
of workaday science.
“Holistic,” when that adjective
is properly applied to health care,
refers to a qualitatively different
approach, one that respects the
interaction of mind, body, and
environment. Beyond the allopa­

thic approach of treating the dis­
ease and symptoms of disease, it
seeks to correct the underlying
disharmony causing the problem.
A holistic approach may include
a variety of diagnostic tools and
treatments, some orthodox, some
not. A much-simplified compari­
son of the two views is given
below:

Assumptions of the old paradigm of medicine

Assumptions of the new paradigm of health

Treatment of symptoms.
Specialized.

Search for patterns and causes, plus treatment
of symptoms.
Integrated, concerned with the whole patient.

Emphasis on efficiency.

Emphasis on human values.

Professional should be emotionally neutral.

Professional’s caring is a component of healing.

Pain and disease are wholly negative.

Pain and diseases are information about conflict,
disharmony.

Primary intervention with drugs, surgery.

Minimal intervention with “appropriate techno­
logy,” complemented with full armamentarium of
non-invasive techniques (psychotherapies, diet,
exercise).

Body seen as machine in good or bad repair.

Body seen as dynamic system, context, field of
energy within other fields.

Diseases or disability seen as thing, entity.

Diseases or disability seen as process.

Emphasis on eliminating symptoms, disease.

Emphasis on
“meta health.”

Patient is dependent.

Patient is (or should be) autonomous.

Professional is authority.

Professional is therapeutic partner.

Body and mind are separate; psychosomatic ill­
ness is mental, may be referred to psychiatrist.

Bodymind perspective; psychosomatic illness is
province of all health-care professionals.

Mind is secondary factor in organic illness.

Mind is primary or coequal factor in all illness.

Placebo effect shows the power of suggestion.

Placebo effect shows the mind's role in disease
and healing.

Primary reliance on
(charts, tests, dates).

information

Primary reliance on qualitative information, inclu­
ding patients subjective reports and profession­
al's intuition; quantitative data as an adjunct.

“Prevention” largely environmental: vitamins, rest,
exercise, immunization, not smoking.

“Prevention” synonymous with wholeness: work,
relationships, goals, body-mind-spirit.

quantitative

IIEM.TII FOR rill- MILLIONS, FEBRUARY 1981

achieving

maximum wellness,

nection between mind and illness.
Healing is about caring and that
is missing in the old (but still
widely prevalent) model of medi­
cine. "The trust of medicine is the
wholeness of life. Its commitment
is to keep the flame of life burning,
not its embers glimmering.”
The Aquarian conspiracy in
healing and medicine will have to
see not only indigenous medic­
ine systems as complementary to
western medicine, but also other
psychotechnologies as relevant:
Relevance to Health
The relevance to health of all meditation, guided imagery, con­
this is obvious. Much of the curr­ sciousness, awakening, dream
ent ways dealing with the health therapy, music therapy and danc­
of man is left brain, lacking in ing to name a few. The Aquarian
the vision o wholeness and well­ Conspiracy in medicine is about
ness and viewing the body as a helping people to come home and
system to be repaired. Alternativ­ health will be the ultimate homeely, the new paradigm in health coming.
*
*
*
will seek to understand the con­
(Contd. from page 2)

sterile.
The Aquarian Conspiracy is a
conspiracy for the whole brain
man of a larger and vaster synth­
esis. Many of the Aquarian cons­
pirators are convinced that our
present sense of inadequacy
flows from cutting off our right
brain—the part which gives motion
to our speech, and imagery to our
existence. We cannot leave the
trap until we know we are in it.

The Aquarian Approach
All these approaches might
be called psychotechnologies —
systems for a deliberate change
in consciousness. Individuals
may independently discover a
new way of paying attention and
develop originial ways, triggers
for a paradigm shift. Health for
the Millions will discuss many of
these
psychotechnologies in
subsequent issues.

□ Sensory isolation and sen­
sory overload, because shar­
ply altered input causes a
shift in consciousness.

□ Biofeedback—the use of ma­
chines that feed back tone or
visual readouts of body pro­
cesses like brainwave activity,
muscle activity, skin tempera­
ture— because learning to

4

control these processes re­
quires an unusually relaxed
and alert state.

□ Autogenic training, an appro­
ach that originated in Europe
more than fifty years ago ■—
self-suggestions that the
body is becoming relaxed,
“breathing itself.”
□ Music (sometimes in combi­
nation with imagery or medi­
tation), because
of the
brain's sensitivity to tone and
tempo and because music
engages the right hemisp­
here.
Chanting, painting,
sculpturing, pottery, and simi­
lar activities that give a cre­
ator a chance to become lost
in the creation.

Are you a Fellow
Conspirator?
If you are a fellow Aquarian
Conspirator, if you are convinced
of the ideas expressed in this
article write if you will. Tell us
how you are living the life of a
conspirator. Do you have any new,
exciting, innovative plans?

It came to me that it was not

my past that has stored my achieve­

ments but a future in whose under­
ground soil waited through silent

nights an unrealised immensity.
— Rabindranath Tagore

□ Improvisational theatre, with
its
requirement
of both
total attention and spontane­
ity. Psychodrama, because
it forces an awareness of
roles and role playing. Con­
templation of nature and
other aesthetically overwhel­
ming experiences.
□ The “consciousness-raising”
strategies of various social
movements that call attention
to old assumptions.

□ Hypnosis and self-hypnosis.
□ Meditation of every descrip­
tion: Zen, Tibetan Buddhist,
Transcendental,
Christian,
Kabbalist,
Kundalini, Raja
Yoga, Tantric Yoga etc.
Psychosynthesis, a system
that combines imagery and a
meditative state.

□ Sufi stories,
koans, and
dervish dancing. Various
TH FOR THE MILUONS/FEBRUARY 1981

shamanic and magical tech­
niques, which focus atten­
tion.

□ Seminars like Silva Mind
Control, Actualizations ,and
Lifespring, which attempt
to break the cultural trance
and open the individual to
new choices.
□ Dream journals, because
dreams are the most available
medium for information from
beyond the range of ordinary
consciousness.

□ Countless body disciplines
and therapies: Hatha Yoga,
Reichian, the Bates system
for vision improvement, T'ai
Chi Ch’uan, Aikido, Karate,
Running, Dance,
Rolfing,
bioenergetics,
Feldenkrais,
Alexander, Applied Kinesio­
logy.
□ Intense experiences of per­
sonal and collective change
at encounter groups, infor­

of supportive

□ Sport,
mountain-climbing,
river-running, and similar
physically exhilarating acti­
vities, which cause a qualitatvie shift in the sense of being
alive. Wilderness retreats or
solitary flying or sailing,
which foster self-discovery
and a sense of timelessness.
* * *

A Kind of Conspirator ?

□ Arica,
Theosophy,
and
Gurdjieffian systems, which
synthesize many different
mystical traditions and teach
techniques
for
altering
awareness.
□ Contemporary psychothera­
pies, like Viktor Frankl’s
Logotherapy, which involves
a search for meaning and the
use of "paradoxical inten­
tion," the direct confronta­
tion of the source of fear.
Primal Therapy and its spin­
offs, which summon up expe­
riences of early childhood
pain. The Fischer-Hoffman
process, a similar re-entry into
childhood anxieties, followed
by an intense use of imagery
for reconciliation with and
forgiveness of one's parents
for any negative early experi­
ences. Gestalt therapy, the
gentle forcing through of
patterns of recognition, or
paradigm shifts.

mal groups
friends.

Dear Augi,

I wonder if it is possible for you to contact Dr. Isanand
Vembany, a Jesuit from Gujarat province.
He stays in
Newman Hall, P. Box 4002. Ahmedabad 380009.

I

i

Fr. Isanand is specialised in Western and Indian Philosophy.
He did his Ph. D from Gujarat University. Currently, he is
forming a group coordinating various voluntary agencies in India
to spread the message that “India is on fire” and something
has to be done urgently for the benefit of the masses. He calls
the movement “ Neo-Gandhian Second Liberation Revolutionary
Front,” As the name itself suggest the aim is to fulfil the
Gandhian dream of “Second Liberation.” The Gandhian
movement which brought about freedom from foreign yoke
was only a partial dream oj' Gandhi, his main dream was a
“total liberation” by a process of placing power in the hands
of the masses rather than in the hands of ruling elite and
making them always accountable to people.

lam sorry I can’t fully express Fr. Isanand’s views 'in this
note, but would appreciate if you could contact him and perhaps
arrange to meet him somewhere to exchange his thoughts.

□ Science of Mind, an appro­
ach to healing and self-heal­
ing.

With best wishes,

□ A Course in Miracles, an
unorthodox
contemporary
approach to
Christianity
based on a profound shift in
perception.
HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FBBRUARY

N G P

PS: Remember me to Meera if she is around.

1981

’

5

Confessions of a Heretic
The shining image of the
medical profession has been tar­
nished in recent years as a grow­
ing number of critics have dis­
covered that doctors, who once
enjoyed an unchallenged, godlike
stature, have feet of day after all.
Since most of the criticism has
come from people outside the
profession, physicians have been
able to brush it aside as unin­
formed, inaccurate or malicious.
But when one of their own blows
the whistle, they cannot ignore it.

adjunct professor of its College
of Urban Sciences as well as
medical director of Project Head
Start for Chicago's private and
parochial schools. He was also
chairman of the State of Illinois
Medical Licensure Board. In addi­
tion, he is a pediatrician, although
he says that
pediatricians are
superfluous and can
easily be
eliminated. He is happily follow­
ing his own advice by
phas­
ing out his pediatric practice,
"which is almost down to nothing
anyhow."

Dr Robert S Mendelsohn is
one of those who has broken the
"company vow of silence." In his
new book. Confessions of a
Medical Heretic (Contemporary
Books. $9.95), he makes a devast­
ating attack on modern medicine
with statements as seemingly out­
rageous as "the greatest danger
to your health is usually your own
doctor."

So when Mendelsohn urgently
rips the Band-Aids off medicine's
sores, docto.rs shudder. Of medi­
cine he says:
"I believe that
more than 90 percent of modern
medicine could disappear from
the face of the earth—doctors,
hospitals, drugs and equipment—
and the effect on our health would
be immediate and beneficial."

Bespectacled and surprisingly
soft-spoken, Mendelsohn has a
large following, including many
in the medical profession, who
believe, as he does, that physici­
ans offer, on balance, more of a
threatening fist than a helping
hand. Many leaders of organized
medicine, understandably, claim
his statements are wild and that
he is showboating to capitalize
on the antidoctor wave.

Mendelsohn backs his gain­
saying with an impressive list of
credentials. He is an associate
professor in the Department of
Preventive Medicine and Commu­
nity Health at the Abraham
Lihcoln School of Medicine of
the University of Illinois and
6

of a Medical Heretic, you said that

physical examinations were basi­
cally worthless. But aren't regular
checkups such^as those for the
Pap test and hypertensive screen­
ing effective in detecting early
problems that can be treated?
MENDELSOHN: Let me give
you my reference. British resear­
chers found no change in the
incidence of cancer of the cervix
or in the mortality rate in those
areas of England which have
extensively used the Pap test and
in those areas which haven't used
it at all. Now, I think the reasonfor that probably goes something
like this: Since the Pap smear
has false positives and negatives,
some of the people who are mis­
takenly diagnosed as having
cancer of the cervix then get into
trouble from overtreatment. My
argument is that the Pap smear
ends up saving some lives and
killing others. Or; if you want to
put it a different way, it's still a
controversial item in medicine
and should not be accepted as
gospel.

Of doctors he says: "Modern
medcine is now better geared
for killing people than it is for
healing them. Doctors in general
should be treated with about the
same degree of trust as used-car
salesmen."
I PSA: What about catching early

hypertension?
Much of what Mendelsohn
MENDELSOHN:
My problem
advocates is probably not new to
readers of Health for the Mil- , with hypertension is that the
definition has changed. In 1971,
lions. However the interview is
published because of some new the U S Public Health Service
definition of hypertension was
facts used by Mendelsohn in his
arguments. Many of his arguments anything that was higher than
about
American
doctors
are 165 over 95. By 1977 it changed
applicable to their Indian coun­
o anything that was higher
terparts as well. The interview is than 140 over 90, thus making
published courtesy PSA maga­
13 million more people eligi­
zine (January 1980),
ble for antihypertensive drugs.

PSA:

In your book, Confessions

My concern is that hypertensive
drugs have so many adverse

HEALTH FOR THE

millions/february 1981

effects, that now that we’re
giving them to people that we
never prescribed them for before,
the benefits are out weighed by
the risks. You see, my argument
is that doctors are always mani­
pulating the limits of normality to
fit their own biases.

PSA: Meaning diet control and
exercise ?
MENDELSOHN : Yes, and since
doctors know nothing about nut­
rition, you cannot look to them
for advice. AlmosI all their nut­
ritional advice is either wrong or
outmoded.

you should look for somebody
who will give you information
about the adverse reactions to the
drugs being prescribed. And if
you’re looking for a surgeon, then
I think you should ask a whole
bunch of questions about what
his success rates are, what his
failures are. Just like a baseball
PSA: Wasn't there a study a
PSA : Should a person even have
team, I would love to see surgewhile back that showed that even a doctor to begin with ?
'
ons' records published like hits,
the treatmentof mild hypertension
MENDELSOHN: would say it is j runs and errors.
resulted in fewer strokes?
1 not necessary because I assign to
PSA : Are you saying basically
MENDELSOHN : Yes, and that's the doctor the role of lifeguard,
i
that
you should see a doctor who
the reason why they changed the and, as you know, most people on
!
will
share
information with you ?
definition. But that was a single the beach don’t have their own
study and it was far from conclu­ personal lifeguard.
MENDELSOHN: Yes. You should
sive. So again my answer is that
i see a doctor who will be honest.
this is all controversial and there­
I I would say that if nothing else,
fore should be reported to the
that would be the single most
public as such, rather than as
■ important thing.
dogma.
PS A: How should a person select
PSA : Well, if people are to
abandon physical exams altoge­
ther, when should they go into
see a doctor?
MENDELSOHN : I think there are
a few things that they should do.
Number one, they should see a
doctor when they have symptoms.

a hospital and when should he
go into one?
MENDELSOHN: Heshould never
select a hospital, because hos­
pitals don't treat patients and
they should not treat patients.
And if he selects the right kind
of doctor, that doctor will prot­
ect him against hospitalization.
PSA : Such as?
Let me go back a step. You
MENDELSOHN : Let me put it
should select a doctor whose
this way. The best part of Ame­
; temple is the home and not the
rican Medicine is emergency
hospital. For example, 1 recom­
medicine. So, when you have PSA : In the event that some­ mend for general practitioners,
emergency
symptoms — acute body develops a symptom he's doctors who still make house
appendicitis or kidney stones, worried about, how does he then calls.
hemorhageor broken bones—then go about selecting a doctor ?
PSA: You call drugs a sacred
there's no question about it.
ritual that is often misused, but
MENDELSOHN: Let me start at
That’s where the benefits will out
the beginning of life and go aren’t some medications neces­
weigh the risks.
right through. If a woman is look­ sary, such as those for high blood
Now, if you have mild symp­ ing for an obstetrician, she should pressure?
toms or symptoms of a chronic look for somebody who has a low P/IENDELSOHN : Yes, for mali­
nature, that’s where you can get caesarian section rate, say 6 or 7 gnant hypertension, which is 1
into trouble with modern medicine. percent. And if she’s selecting a per cent of all the cases of
This is why I maintain that people pediatrician, she should look for hypertension, drugs are invaluable.
have to look to other methods of somebody who will share with her For Addison’s disease, cortisone
is lifesaving ; penicillin for men­
keeping healthy and other methods the dangers of bottle-feeding and
of treating disease. For example, will also tell her the dangers as ingococcal meningitis. I am by no
if you have high blood pressure, well as the benefits of immuniza­ means a nihilist. I just think that
you’ve got to look for something tions. If you're looking for an the extremes have become the
internist or a general practitioner, mean and that we're using drugs
other than drugs.
COMMUNITY HEA! H CELL
health for the millions/february 1981

V Main, .’ Bl ok
Koram&ncj'! •?
Bangnlor -

and surgery in cases where they
were never meant to be used.
PSA: What proportion of drugs
would you say are being need­
lessly prescribed?

I would say
more than 90 percent, because
the major categories of tranqui­
lizers are almost all not just
useless, they are absolutely haz­
ardous. Antihypertensives, anti­
arthritis, behaviour
modifiers
in children (ritalian, dexedrine
and others like them) are almost
always incorrectly prescribed.
It wasn’t so bad when medicine
was restricted to the rich, but
now with medical insurance
covering the middle class and the
poor, that means that everybody
gets the same dangerous kind
of care that once only rich people
got.
MENDELSOHN:

PSA: Many doctors, parents and
schoolteachers swear by the use
of amphetamines for controlling
hyperactivity in children. Are
you against this form of treat­
ment?
MENDELSOHN: Yes. There’s no
question that it works, but I
think that it’s basically irrational
treatment because of some of the
side effects already known: the
growth retardation, for example.
And there are other studies that
question its efficacy.
There's
absolutely no information oniong­
range side effects.
PSA: What can a person do to

determine whether or not a drug
is being properly prescribed or
whether or not he should take it?
MENDELSOHN: He can do cer­

tain things himself. Before he
gets the prescription filled, he
can stop off at the public library
and spend twenty minutes read8

ing up on his drug. And he
won’t have to do that if the FDA
legislation gets passed mandat­
ing package inserts for every
drug, not just The Pill. The
second step is to talk about the
drug and your disease with lots
of other people. Discuss it with
relatives, friends, clergymen and
associates—do all the things the
doctors’ telling you not to do.
One of the most important
parts of the prescription infor­
mation, to me, is. the rules for
monitoring the drug. If you take
a look at most of these drugs,
there are extensive recommenda­
tions. For example, for the major
tranquilizers, they recommend
frequent opthalmological examinaions to detect the formation of
cataracts. The same thing for
cortisone. And yet, how many
doctors monitor drugs? If you
prescribe diuretics, you’re sup­
posed to monitor the electrolytes
to make sure that you are not
getting low pottassium levels.
So what do doctors do? They tell
you to eat bananas instead of
monitoring the levels. My feeling
is that if drugs were prescribed

correctly, if doctors really follow­
ed the books and really followed
the manufacturer's instructions,
we wouldn't be in this mess today.
But that would take a lot of time
with each patient, because you
can’t do that in a hurry.
PSA: Recent government reports
in the U.S.A, on
unnecessary

surgery state that there are 2.4
million unnecessary operations
performed each year, leading to a
waste of 84 billion and 12,000
unnecessary
deaths.
These
estimates have been criticized
by a lot of people as being
inaccurate.
MENDELSOHN: The American

College of Surgeons (at their
October 21-26 meeting) said that
a little more than 10 percent of
surgery was necessary. I couldn't
get over that. Even surgeons now
are jumping on the bandwagon.
PSA : But isn't it stretching it a
bit far to say that 90 percent of
all surgery is unnecessary?

MENDELSOHN: Well, let's take

a

look at the most

common

HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FEBRUARY 1981

operations. The most common op­ breast-feed.
eration in this country is vasec­
Also, pediatricians have never
tomy—over a million a yqar. And
it’s performed without informing complained about obstetric ex­
the patient of the already known cesses. It's almost like the Ger­
mans who knew what was hap­
risks, such as the changes in
the blood enzyme. The second pening (to the Jews), because the
most common operation is cir­ pediatricians knew that the obste­
cumcision on the first day of life. tricians who gave analgesia and
Nobody is ever told the risks of anesthesia were dangering the
“routine” circumcision. There's health of the babies, and they've
at least another million; that known that since I’ve been in pe­
makes two million. Then there’s diatrics, since 1940. No pediatri­
8,00,000 hysterectomies, and no­ cian has ever criticized an obs­
body’s ever told about depression tetrician, because if he does, he's
following hysterectomy. Tonsils out of business. Just stay away
are still being operated on at the
rate of about 7,00,000 a year. So
that gives you somewhere over
3.5 million unnecessary opera­
tions, and that’s without getting
into cancer surgery.
PSA : You come down pretty
hard on
pediatricians, saying
that this segment of the medical
profession perhaps should be eli­
minated. Yet isn’t that your pro­
fession? How can young parents
be expected to have the know­
how and confidence to treat all
the maladies of childhood?
MENDELSOHN : Remember my
phrase in the book about one
grandmother being worth two
pediatricians? Well, I tell people
who want advice on mothering or
parenting to go to people who have
successfully raised children. My
favourite organization these days
is the La Leche League. Or any
of the homebirth movements. I
would go to them for advice and
stay away from doctors, particul­
arly if you want to nurse your
baby. Pediatricians are death on
nursing and even though they pay
lip service to it. They’ll thinkof any
reason to tell a mother to stop
nursing, and yet they don't know
anything about it. They separate
the baby from the mother at birth
and destroy the opportunity to

from the pediatrician who looks
benign and compassionate, be­
cause he’s the most dangerous
kind.
PSA : Why is that?

dangerous kind of doctor today is
the kind that looks as if he's a
good guy. He’s the guy you
have to be more suspicious of;
you have to ask him more ques­
tions and insist on documenta­
tion for everything he says.
PSA \ There seem to be hund­
reds of so called authorities giv­
ing different advice to parents on
how to raise their children. Dr
Spock, for instance, has become
an institution. What should
young parents do?

MENDELSOHN : The first thing
they should do is to reject any
authority who says at the end of
each chapter, “Talk to your
doctor.” Also, I would immedi­
ately interview the expert and see
if he or she is the right one for
you. I want to know what his or
her experience was. How many
children have they had? Were
they born at home or in the hospi­
tal? Was the author sedated in
childbirth or not? If it's husband,
was his wife sedated? Were
their babies breast-fed, and for
how long, how successfully?
What kind of diets do they use at
home? Did they use jarred infant
food or did they use their own
food? Since all the experts I
know are deficient in all of these
respects, my answer Is that I
would trust no experts.

PSA: If breast-feeding newborns
MENDELSOHN : Because he will
seduce you into doing the wrong is supposed to be so healthy,
thing. If you’ve got a pediatrician why do most mothers shun it and
who says, “Breast-feeding is for bottle feed their infants instead?
the cows,” then you know where MENDELSOHN : I think that
he stands. But if you’ve got a there are two major reasons for
nice pediatrician who says, “I'm that: the first is that they don’t
all in favour of breast-feeding,"and know the dangers of bottle-feed­
then as soon as your child shows ing, which are well-documented.
a little jaundice, he tells you to
They don't know about the dis­
go off of breast milk, he is opera­ eases that occur only in bottle­
ting under the cloak of love much fed babies, which doctors know.
like the Spanish Inquisition did.
There is a long list of necrotizingMy arguments is that the most ) enterocolitis of the newborn, neo­

HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FEBRUARY 1981

9

natal hypocalcemia, neonatal hy­
poglycemia, e-coli meningitis,
neonatal hypothyrodism — and
about the other maladies that are
much more common in bottle-fed
babies — sudden infant death,
child abuse, allergies, gastroen­
teritis, pneumonia, asthma. Then
in later life, there are the correla­
tions between bottle-feeding and
hypertension, arteriosclerosis and
obesity. Your whole life is affected
by how you were fed as a baby.
But nodody pays any attention to
this. Even with the radioactivity,
strontium 90 and the PVBs and
the PCCs. It’s been shown that
breast milk has the ability to sel­
ectively keep these agents from
being absorbed into the baby’s
body, and bottle milk does not.
So bottle-fed babies, babies who
have cow's milk, have a very high
amount of strontium 90 in their
tissues, while breast-fed babies
have practically none. Mothers
don’t know because the doctors
don’t know, and if they do, they
aren’t talking.
The second reason is purely
economic. These days, it takes
two incomes to support a family
—everybody has to go to work.
Something like 55 per cent of all
mothers start nursing, but after
a couple of weeks, they have to
give it up because now the
trade off is poverty versus breast­
feeding.
PSA : You recommend that
people avoid the medical profes­
sion and seek alternate methods
of care such as chiropractors.
Are you advocating that people
go to chiropractors instead of
doctors?
MENDELSOHN: I don’t have to
advocate it; they're flocking to
chiropractors. The great advan­
tage that chiropractors have is
that by law they are not permitted
to use drugs or surgery, and
10

therefore, they cannot do as
much harm as the physician can.
After half 'a dozen physicians
couldn’t get rid of her back tro­
uble, my wife went to a chiropra­
ctor, and she’s gotten excellent
results. And in a lot of states in
this country, chiropractors are
delivering babies at home. As
far as I’m concerned, they can be
absolutely trusted.

are people living longer?

MENDELSOHN :
Absolutely,
as long as everybody knows
what's going on. You see, I’m
confident enough that the infor­
mation concerning the side effects
of these things is known right at
the beginning of the studies.

MENDELSOHN: What I advocate

MENDELSOHN: I don’t think
that people are living longer; I
think we’re making a mistake in
the statistics. Everybody says
that in George Washington’s
time the average life expe­
ctancy was thirty-eight years.
However, most of that was
caused by the deaths of new­
borns. If you lived to age five,
PSA: Kidney dialysis, heart and | then your life expectancy was
kidney transplants, as well as I exactly the same, maybe a little
other procedures, have saved ' better. There’s some evidence
thousands of lives. These thera­ that if you lived to age five or
pies result from medical research. ten a hundred years ago, your
Isn’t research necessary to make chance of reaching ninety was
better than it is today. In fact,
these kinds of advancements?
Linus Pauling now has some
MENDELSOHN: My
problem statistics that show that life
with instruments such as the expectancy is dropping for adults,
dialysis machine is that the tools and 1 think he’s right. Because
of modern medicine are so power­ now we’re suffering from the
ful that they damage the people so-called degenerative diseases,
who use them: the radiologists which I don’t think are degenera­
and leukemia; anesthesiologists tive at all. 1 think that most
and cancer and genetic defects of the degenerative diseases
to the kids; renal dialysis and today are going to be shown to
hepatitis. If anybody ever did an be due to X—rays, drugs and
accurate calculation, it would turn polluted food, additives, preser­
out that the only thing renal dia­ vatives and immunizations.
lysis does is change who will die­
kill some who would live and save PSA : Speaking about immuniza­
some who would die. Therefore tions, the control of communi­
it must be regarded as experi­ cable diseases, especially through
immunizations, has been regarmental.
! ded as a mechanism that has
PSA: How does that address i caused the greatest improvement
the question of medical research in people's health. Do you serio­
in general? Are you in favour of usly advocate that parents not
it?
have their children immunized?

PSA: If we are getting sicker as
a result of modern medicine, as
you mention in your book, why

is that parents have access to
the same controversies that are
going on inside the medical
journals. For example, doctors
in Connecticut had rubella and
mumps immunizations stoppedI think people should know that
Dr Edward Shaw, an eminent pedi­
atrician from California, has come
not against the whooping cough

health for the milljons/february 1981

vaccine and it’s got a lot of
neurologic dangers. I think people
should know the link found this
year by the head of the Tennes­
see Communicable
Disease
Department between DPT and
sudden infant death, which resul­
ted in the withdrawal of 3,20,000
doses of live vaccine from the
market. All I’m saying is that
immunizations are very controver­
sial inside of medicine. Even the
polio immunization. Sabin and
Salk point out that three-fourths
of all the cases of polio in the last
ten years have been vaccineinduced. I don’t see any reason
why people shouldn’t be just as
confused as doctors are. Right
now they don’t believe that
doctors are confused.
The other thing that people
should know is the suspicion by
people like Robert Simpson from
Rutgers University that immuni­
zations and allergy shots and the
introduction of any foreign protein
by injection into the body may
later lead to the so-called immun­
ologic diseases like multiple
sclerosis, Parkinson’s and rheum­
atoid arthritis.
PSA : So what do you tell
parents? Not to have their child­
ren immunized?

I'll tell you
what I tell them: My grandchild is
seventeen months old and has
not been immunized. Immuniza­
tions are just as controversial as
what I call the other three holy
waters of modern medicine; silver
nitrate in the eyes of babies,
routine intravenous fluids to
labouring mothers and flouridated
water. They’re still controversial.
MENDELSOHN :

PSA: You attack the medical
profession on numerous grounds.
Whyj then, do you still belong to
the American Medical Associa­
tion (AMA)?

MENDELSOHN : I suppose I’ve

gotten so used to paying my dues
that when the bill comes In, I pay
it, I don’t know. I've always
belonged. I suppose it may be
that there lurks a splinter of hope
that I can influence the AMA.
And that is really irrational. I
can’t get myself to sever my con­
nections. You see, there are two
models of heretics. There's the
kind that I don’t want to be; that’s
the Joan of Ark model. And then
there's the kind that I would like
to be; that’s the Martin Luther
model. Martin Luther left the
Catholic church, but he didn’t
stop being a Christian. Maybe
that's the answer. I don't really
warit to do anything to those
guys. I just want to put them
out of business, that’s all.
PSA : I think the majority of them
would think that’s pretty bad
medicine for them to swallow.
MENDELSOHN : All I want is to
have the government start a
massive retraining program for
doctors so that they can get into
some kind of honest work, myself
included.

I call “closet medical heretics.’’
PSA : Since you go so far in
saying that 90 percent of surgery
is unnecessary and that most
doctors should be eliminated as
far as their jobs are concerned,
and that we'd all be better off for
it, would you say that you are
saying this to be taken with a
grain of salt? Or are you saying
it as an actual thing that should
be done?
MENDELSOHN: I admit that I
say it with considerable humour,
because it's too grim to be prese­
nted straight out. But I’m dead
serious about it. And furthermore,
I think that if it isn’t done, it will
bring our country down—not only
from the standpoint of health,
because doctors are now so
dangerous to the health of each
individual, but from the political
standpoint because of the fantas­
tic amounts of money that are
now going into the medical system.
I think that’s a greater danger to
our country than the petro gouge
right now. It’s totally unrecogni­
zed.

*

*

♦

PSA : Your denunciation of the

medical profession has stirred
the wrath of many doctors. How
have they reacted to your book?

ORAL REHYDRATION
PACKETS

MENDELSOHN : The major reac­
tion I get from my friends is that
made by Mahila Mandals available
they want to know why 1 spread
at
40 paise a packet (for half a
it out before the public instead of
litre
solution) with instructions in
leaving it inside the medical
:
Hindi/English
available.
journals. To which my answer
is that nobody reads medical f
journals, not even doctors, beca­
For details write to:
use the purpose of medical
journals is to impede communica­
Voluntary Health Associa­
tion. The real purpose, of course,
tion of India
is to promote associate profess­
C-14 Community Centre,
ors to professors. The second
!
S D A New Delhi-110016.
reaction that I’m getting is a lot
of fan letters from doctors whom

HEALTH FOR THE MILLJONS/FEBRUARY 1981

11

NEWS

Health For A Million
December 2, 1980 was a gala
day for the Health for One Million
project of Southern
Kerala.
Over one thousand village level
health workers gathered for a one
day convention in a school pre­
mises in Trivandrum. They pre­
sented an attractive exhibition of
items made by themselves for
teaching nutrition, child care,
herbal and other low-cost reme­
dies,.responsible parenthood and
organizational charts.
The village level health work­
ers were nearly all women. There
were only a dozen or so male
workers.

An Inspiration
The Health for One Million
project grew out of the convention
of the Catholic Hospital Asso­
ciation held in Bangalore in
1973. The theme of that conven­
tion was “Health for the Millions.”
That theme has become the motto
of the Voluntary Health Associa­
tion of India. Father Lawrence
Thottam of Leprosy Hospital,
Pirapancode, Kerala, attended
that convention, and on his way
home he was meditating on howto
bring the message of that conven­
tion into reality in his own com­
munity. Suddenly an inspiration
came to him, “Suppose ] start a
project and call it ‘Health for
one Million.”’ He wrote to Father
Tong about this, who encouraged
him, little imagining that a project
of such magnitude could ever be
realized.

...And Movement
Soon there was a printed leaf­
let describing the project plan.

.12

There was evidence of local com­ education, and each mother
munity support. From the time leader is required to visit 10 fami­
the project started, VHAI took a lies and help them with health
helpful interest in it. Sister Carol care and advice, and other forms
Huss introduced them to a proven of social and economic growth.
type of mini-workshop called six
The 1000 health workers are
plus one. Six or seven people distributed over ten zones cover­
live close to each other meeting ing the districts of Trivandrum,
once a month and focussing Quilon and Kanyakumari.
attention on one goal at a time to
Duplicated and printed infor­
be attained. Sister Carol attended mation about this project can be
many of these meetings to help had by writing to Bishop Lawrence
them get started. Sister Anne Mar Aprem, Archbishop’s House,
Cummins and Miss Simone Lie- Trivandrum-695004, Kerala.
geois of VHAI also visited the
In the early stages of the pro­
project several times and assisted
ject,
Sister Eymard, a community
and encouraged.
health nurse of a local society
called Bethany Sisters, became
...Forward
the assistant to Fr Lawrence.
In 1974, the project was laun­ She is now practically in full
ched in a small way but it grew charge of the project under a
rapidly. It was solidly based on managing committee.
educational programmes, and the
number of participants and bene­
Resolution Afresh
ficiaries grew rapidly, till recently
The Voluntary Health Associ­
there were more than a lakh of
ation of India was represented at
new ones each year. In July 1980,
the total number reached one mil­ the convention by Mr Yesudian,
lion. One thousand village health Secretary of the Kerala VHS,
Cummins, and
workers had been given simple Sister Anne
Father
James
Tong,
who was
health training. Of course, it is an
the
chief
guest.
on-going programme, and they
At the convention, the main
can continue to learn more, and
decision
was not to go on increa­
will indeed continue. The project
is complete only in the sense that sing the number of beneficiaries,
the target of one million benefici­ but to stop at one million, and to
aries was reached. This indicat­ develop among them further and
es about 200 families or approxi­ more intense educational and
mately 1000 people for each of health related socio-economic
the 1000 village level health work­ programmes. Theyformally accep­
ers have benefited. Above the ted the goal and challenge for
health workers there are three their one million, of health for all
levels of supervisors and instruct­ by the year 2000. They have made
ors. Below them, each health a programme of five years, as the
worker identifies
20 mother first section of the remaining 20
leaders, and gives them further |
(Continued on page 15)

HEALTH FOR THE

millions/fbbruary 1981

rem
West Bengal
Two themes are prominent in
WB VHA's plans for the year
1981 : Community health and
development training, and income
generation for self-sufficiency.
Following last year's residential
training in community health and
development, three more are
being planned in the current year.
Also WB VHA is actively investi­
gating possibilities of starting an
income-generating
project
to
make itself more self-reliant.

relief team consisted of workers
from OVHA members in Serango,
Doliambo, Berhampur and the
organizing
secretary,
Bipin
Chandra Moharatta.
Gunupur subdivision. The pro­
gram coverage initially included
feeding of underfives and medical
aid for mother and children. The

The followup work now in­
cludes house reconstruction and
school education for children.

Orissa
OVHA
has been involved
since October 1980, in relief
service to flood
victims in

ANY TIME

IS

HEALTH

BUILDING ANEW.

EDUCATION

TIME.

Newly built temporary houses of village Raadu.

UNDER FIVES.

Feeding and care at village Mukudlpadar.

A mobile health team finds some time to explain a thing or two.

HEALTH FOR THE MILLIONS/FEBRUARY

1981

COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
326, V Main, I Block
Koramongala
Bangalore-560034
India

13

Andhra Pradesh
News reaches us at the time
of going to press of a ward sister’s
course conducted from February
8-15 at Hyderabad. The beauty
of the programme was that it was
coordinated and led by Sr Jose­
phine, a VHAI correspondence
course student who had taken
this up as her term paper. Sr
Delphine, Manohari Sigamoni,
George Ninan and Renu Khanna
were involved in the earlier dis­
cussions on the design of the
course.

Kerala
Kerala VHS is really on a new
track now. As part of a long-term
plan, KVHS has decided to shift
its focus into Idukki, Wynad,
Malappuram and Palghat districts.
Already KVHS has started a
training programme in Manthody
(Wynad). KM George, the organi­
zing secretary of KVHS has also
helped to plan the curriculum for
the Diploma course in Community
Service to be conducted at the
Institute of Social Work, Rajagiri, where he will also be acting
as a faculty. The first batch will
be from February 16 to May 16,
1981.
In Malappuram, plans to con­
tact the Muslim Educational
Society, and work through them
are being carried out. Plans are
also afoot to contact specific
institutions in Idukki district.

Southern Region
Transactional Analysis (TA)
training programmes for all the
staff of GREMALTES, Madras
has been initiated. A new aspect
of thesetraining programmes have
been TA programmes in Tamil,
conducted by Jaisegar of VHAI

14

for lower grade employees. A
novel germ of an idea which is
likely to take shape is using the
holistic health approach of yoga,
meditation.autogenics and imagery
with leprosy patients. This would
be somewhat on the lines of the
programme with cancer patients
in Poona (reported in December
1980 Health for the Millions). Plans
include a control group and an
experimental group.
All good
wishes to them for success in
their creative venture.
*
*
February 1-6,1981, Hyderabad
was the scene of VHAI’s fifth
seminar on organizational deve­
lopment and growth. There were
20 participants. The theme of the
seminar was "The Aquarian Con­
spiracy." Almost all of the parti­
cipants decided to
become
conspirators of the Aquarian
variety at the end of the six-day
programme. VHAI has decided
to actively followup on the parti­
cipants and facilitate the con­
spiracies.

The Government of India has
.entered into an agreement with
the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceu­
ticals Ltd, (IDPL), to start manu­
facture of oral rehydration salt
(ORS) on a large scale. Manu­
facture is likely to start from the
beginning of 1981.

New Delhi

The Government has hiked
prices of over 60 bulk drugs.
With this the number of bulk
drugs whose prices have been
revised upward so far have gone
up to over 80.

Dr B Shankaran,
Director
General of Health Services in the
Union Health and Family Welfare
Ministry has been appointed dire­
ctor of the World Health Organi­
zation at its headquarters in
Geneva, and has taken charge
of his new assignment in the first
week of February. Dr I D Bajaj,
Additional Director General of
Health Services will succeed Dr
Shankaran.
The guild of service in asso­
ciation with Canara Bank has
announced a scheme for supply
of artificial limbs to needy persons.
Interested persons may apply to:
Guild of Service, c/o Dalmia
Charitable Trust, 4 Scindia
House, New Delhi 110001.

*

«

The IDPL would be supplying
5 million packets next year for
distribution through the periphery
health workers. In addition, IDPL
would be marketing the ORS
through its commercial channels
at a price of about Re 1/- per
packet. It would also undertake
the promotional and educational
activities for production in private
sector and the community in
general. The ultimate objective
is thatORS beside being available
with all the periphery health and
community workers will also be
available through
commercial
channels in villages.
*
*

60 Bulk Drugs to
Cost More

The Government has already
issued notifications giving effect
to these price rises.

The Government has also
revised prices of formulations—32
leader and 30 individual prices.
Prices of more bulk drugs and
formulations will be raised, ac­
cording to official sources
The Bureau of
industrial
Costs and Prices is
engaged in
working out prices of
over 30 bulk
drugs and hundreds
of formulations.

SeDs°;,
tes
9 (prices control)

HEALTH FOR TUP

,
•’■LI.IOVS .FEBRUARY J 981

order, 1979, allowing non-leader
prices to rise to the level of
leader prices.
Hitherto
the
Government had fixed a ceiling
for non-leader prices of drugs.
Following are some of the
bulk drugs whose prices have
been revised upward: Vitamin B2,
Tetanus,
Antitoxin,- Dapsone,
Analgin,
Ampicillin,
Anhy­
drous, Vitamin “E”,
Vitamin
B 1 (oral), Vitamin B 1 (hydro­
chloride), Vitamin B 1
(mono­
nitrate), Vitamin "C”, Phenacetin,
Gas Gangerene, Antitoxin, Mor­
phine, Morphine Hydrochloride,
Morphine Sulphate, Codeine, Cod­

eine Phosphate, Codeine Sulphate, this source. However, 96 centres
Narcotine, Vitamin B 12 (cyano­ have received food supplements
cobalamin) Vitamin B 12 (hydro­ from Catholic Relief Services.
xycobalamin)
Sulphamoxole, | There are, however, many other
Benzocaine, Hydrochlorothiazide, ' centres which have not received
Amphotoericin,
Aspirin and this food.
Salicylic acid.
*
*
Of the 1057 village level health
workers now working in the pro­
ject, 419 are Hindus, 69 Muslims,
(Continued from page 12)
years before the turn of the 569 Christians. 263 are of high
school level and above, 357
century.
are of middle school standard,
One special comment about 397 of primary school standard
this project is that it has not been and 50 are illiterate.
supported by funds from abroad.
Each beneficiary is expected to give
two rupees per year. Much of the
running expenses has come from

NEWS
A New Agent

Women in Society

A new biological agent effective
against the
insect
vectors
of malaria and onchocerciasis
(river blindness), and a new test
for the diagnosis of trypanoso­
miasis (sleeping sickness) at an
early stage, are two of the tools
now being field tested against
these three widespread diseases.
For more information contact
the World Health Organization,
Division of Public Information,
111 G eneva 27, Switzerland.

The
International Planned
Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
has published a wallchart entitled
“Women in Society.” The chart
gives data on life expectancy,
percentage of women in the labor
force, information on literacy,
abortion, voting rights, and con­
traception. The chart costs USS
1.00 and is available in English,
French and Spanish from IPPF,
18-20
Lower Regent
Street,
London, SW1Y 4PW, Great
Britain.

OR Tablet
The Programmefor Appropriate
Technology for Health (PATH)
has developed an oral rehydration
tablet. The tablet, which con­
forms to the World Health
Organization’s oral rehydration
formula, is now being tested in
Bangladesh, Thailand, the Phili­
ppines, and Indonesia. For more
information write PATH at 4000
NE 41st Street, Seattle, Washing­
ton, 98105, USA.

CHILDREN, Villa Le Bocage,
Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva
10, Switzerland.

Traditional

The International Association
for the Study of Traditional Asian
Medicine has been created to
study the traditional medical
systems of Asia and North
Africa.
The group plans to
organize international conference
and to issue two bulletins each
year to encourage the exchange
of information among scientists
and scholars. For more infor­
Disabled
mation write: Prof Charles Leslie,
ASSIGNMENT CHILDREN, a Secretary-General, IASTAM, Uni­
biannual journal published by the versity of Delaware, Center for
United Nation’s Children’s Fund Science and Culture, 28 West
(UNICEF), is looking for informat­ Delaware
Avenue,
Newark,
ion on primary health care for the Delware 19711, or Prof A L
disabled. Any information on Basham,
President, I ASTAM,
mental retardation and illnesses, Australian National University,
blindness, xerophthalmia, goiter, PO Box 4, Canberra, Australia.
motor diseases, and other dis­
abilities should be sent to Pierre
★
★
E Mandi, Editor, ASSIGNMENT

health for the millions/february 1981

15

provided. Apply to : Rayalaseema
Development Trust, Health Dep­
artment,
Bangalore
Highway
Anantapur, AP- 515001.
♦
*

Lab Technician

AFPRO’s training schedule for
the year 1981 mentions several
training programmes including
those on agriculture; masonry,
dairy, goats, poultry and animal
husbandary management; and
biogas plant construction. More
information can be
obtained
from AFPRO, C-17 Community
Centre, SDA, New Delhi-110016.
*
*
The Pastoral Sociology Institute,
Secunderabad, a center for train­
ing leaders for community deve­
lopment in India,
conducts
courses in Adult
Education,
cooperatives and small industries.
The institute’s philosophy is
achieving self-reliance of people
through cooperative enterprises
and self-help programmes. More
details may be obtained from:
The Director, Pastoral Sociology
Institute, 222 West Marradpally,
Secunderabad AP 500026.

A Laboratary Technician wanted
for Kashi Kushta Seva Sangh,
Ashapur. PO Sarnath, Varanasi,
U.P.
Please write care Sri
Prahlad Das, Vice President.
*
*

Weed
You

Wanted (1) DGO or MD in obsterics and gynaecology; and (2)
MD in general medicine or
paediatrics. Retired or experienc­
ed MBBS may also apply. Salary
according to experience and
qualifications. Furnished quarters

MBBS doctor also wanted for the
above hospital to be incharge of
their community health project.
The doctor who is selected will
be incharge of medical services
in a population of 40,000 with six
village health committees and 23
VHWs. There is a 12 'bed com­
munity ward with laboratory and
X ray facilities. Salary: Rs. 100030-1300-40-1700-60-2000 plus all­
owance. Write care director.
*
*

Doctors
Experienced MBBS doctor wanted
for Victoria Hospital, Dichpalli
503175,
Nizamabad
District,
Andhra Pradesh. Minimum age
35 years. He should be prepared
to undertake medical as well as
administrative duties.
Salary
Rs. 1200-35-1500-30-2050-75-2425
plus allowances. The hospital
has 250 beds and is involved in
leprosy control and treatment,
research, rehabilitation and com­

A National Organisation requires
an energetic young person to
supervise production of its books
and other audio visual materials.
Capacity to write simple English
and suggest ideas for illustrations
desirable.

Apply with bio-data and minimum
salary expected to:

The Editor, Health for the Millions,
VHAI, C-14, Community Centre,
S.D.A., New Delhi - 110016.

What ?
a basic document
an alternative model of health care services with 20
years perspective
□ a new operational strategy all in one

□
□

HEALTH FOR ALL:
An Alternative Strategy

Titled:

Addressed to:

'

munity health. Write for details
caredirector. Victorial Hospital.

All health professionals.
Policy makers.
Leaders of public opinion.
Educators.

By whom:
A group of leading health professionals
and social scientists constituted by
ICMR-ICSSR under the Chairmanship
ot Dr. V. Ramalingaswamy

Order from:
VOLUNTARY HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF
INDIA. C-14, Community Centre, Safdarjunt*
Development Area, New Delhi - 110016.
Price: Rs. 18 (Paperback)
Rs. 65 (Hardcover)

Size: Demy Octavo
Pages 278

16
HEALTH FOR THE

MILUONS/fEBRUARY 1981

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as 1 could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair.
And having perhaps the better claim.
Recause it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh. I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
1 doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling (his with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged ui a woodbind I
I took the one less travel
And that has made, all the

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